Not only was Bill Walsh was the coach, he was the 49ers GM. He made tremendous deals in getting Fred Dean and "Hacksaw" Reynolds. Moreover, as an offensive-minded coach, he drafted 3 rookies in the secondary, Carlton Williamson, Eric Wright, and the great Ronnie Lott to win Super Bowl XVI!

He had tremendous sense of when to trade players before their peak and acquire skillful veterans to fit into his system, such as Wendell Tyler and Russ Francis. The only mistake that he admitted to making was trading Ronnie Lott too early.

"One of the greatest challenges of my career was coaching defense against Bill Walsh. He turned San Francisco’s offense into the best in the league. Beyond being a great offensive coach, Bill mastered running an entire pro football organization. He figured out everything from the big picture down to the smallest detail and documented it in his book, Finding The Winning Edge, which was groundbreaking. It remains easily the most comprehensive and best modern day football book and is required reading for every coach. On a personal level, I am very fortunate to have developed a close friendship with Bill and my deepest condolences are with his family on this sad day."

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DanShanoff.com is a sports-blog spin-off of my long-time ESPN.com column, "The Daily Quickie." Anchored by an early-morning post of must-know topics, the blog is updated frequently throughout the day with new posts and user comments.